RussBruz, Author at Whole Food Muscle Club

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Dr Robyn is a former competitive volleyball player turned psychologist with continuing education in nutrition. Russ is a former competitive bodybuilder and trainer on the Mr. Olympia Tour. They are the co-founders of Whole Food Muscle and the authors of How to Feed a Human The Whole Food Muscle Way. To work with them one on one to improve your health and fitness or to have them speak at your event or organization email them at Health@RnRJourney.com.

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Dr Robyn is a former competitive volleyball player turned psychologist with continuing education in nutrition. Russ is a former competitive bodybuilder and trainer on the Mr. Olympia Tour. They are the co-founders of Whole Food Muscle and the authors of How to Feed a Human The Whole Food Muscle Way. To work with them one on one to improve your health and fitness or to have them speak at your event or organization email them at Health@RnRJourney.com.

Is Game Changers Right About Protein?

The question about getting enough protein is the first thing the documentary Game Changers addresses with good reason. Both athletes and non-athletes are very concerned that if they eat plant-based they either won’t get enough protein or that they will have to carefully count and balance amino acids. There is a guy at our gym who absolutely stands me down that I am wrong when I say neither of those things are true.

But how did protein become the god among nutrients?

Game Changers says that there was an 1800s hypothesis that energy came from muscle protein and that people believed it a fact rather than theory. By the time the science came out that the hypothesis was incorrect, that carbohydrates actually created energy, the masses were already convinced that animal protein was the way to go and the tide has never turned.

It is true that there was a study in the early 1800s that found that rat pups grew when given animal protein and died when they were not. This was quickly interpreted into animal protein being necessary for life.

It is true that protein is a macronutrient we need. It is a factor in the health of all of our tissues, hair, nails, blood, muscles, organs and even bones need protein.

9 essential amino acids

Of the twenty-one amino acids that we lump together under the term “protein,” humans can make twelve of them. There are only nine that we need to eat. Interestingly, those nine are easily found by eating a variety of plant-based foods. There is no reason to count, measure or worry about it.

In 2014 The NPD Group found that when asked, 80% of U.S. Consumers believe they want more protein in their diet. But most Americans are already ingesting twice as much protein as they need on a daily basis. You’ve probably seen it. If someone is going to have a snack, they almost always reach for a protein.

Here’s the interesting thing. If you were going to actively TRY to be protein deficient, it would be REALLY hard to do while still ingesting enough calories to sustain you. You would have to eat exclusively vegan junk food (sugar, oil and highly processed fillers) and alcohol. Protein deficiency is only a concern if you are starving.

Too much protien

In the industrialized world, most people are suffering from diseases caused by TOO MUCH protein, which is associated with kidney stress, osteoporosis, cancer, coronary artery disease and poor liver function.

Valter Longo, PhD from the Longevity Institute at the University of Southern California defines a “high protein” diet as being only 20% of calories being from protein. His research has led him to believe that “a high-protein diet – particularly if the proteins are derived from animals – is nearly as bad as smoking for your health.”

If you’ve seen Game Changes you know that they make the connection that the meat industry is using the same manipulating marketing to downplay the risks of their product as the tobacco industry used to. But they stop short of flat out saying it as bad for you as smoking. However, in recent interviews James Wilks (the MMA fighter who is the narrator for Game Changers) has stated that he adamantly believes that eating animal products is as bad for you as smoking.

But not all protein is created equally. You may have noticed that I have been very specific in saying “animal protein,” not just “protein.” That is because the risks associated with eating too much protein go away if you are getting your amino acids (protein) from plant sources.

The meat and dairy industries like to claim that the protein they offer is superior. But that is exactly backwards from what the science shows.

Where do I get my protien?

So, what do you need to eat if you want to get all the protein you need without using animal products? That’s easy! Any whole plants you want.

All plants (with the exception of mistletoe, which you shouldn’t eat anyway) have protein in them. Some more than others. But overall, you will easily get the 6-10% of calories from protein you need. And in fact, most people exceed even that.

A few things we eat every day that are loaded with protein: almonds (in the morning as we are making breakfast), flax seeds, hemp seeds, chia seeds and oatmeal (breakfast), hummus (made from chickpeas), black beans or lentils, broccoli (it has a surprising amount of protein in it), peanut butter, and Russ’ Rustic Bread (which has lots of seeds in it). Those are just the things we eat every day. Something I love to toss into dishes just because of the protein content is green peas (if you saw my cooking show this weekend where I made pasta ala vodka you noticed I added green peas to the recipe). And quinoa is always an easy go-to on its own or added to anything from salad to stir fry.

If we, as avid athletes who workout five days a week, can get enough protein eating plant based without thinking much about it, there is no doubt in our mind you can do it too.

So yes, Game Changers was right about protein and you don’t have to worry about getting enough of it on a plant-based diet

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Dr Robyn is a former competitive volleyball player turned psychologist with continuing education in nutrition. Russ is a former competitive bodybuilder and trainer on the Mr. Olympia Tour. They are the co-founders of Whole Food Muscle and the authors of How to Feed a Human The Whole Food Muscle Way. To work with them one on one to improve your health and fitness or to have them speak at your event or organization email them at Health@RnRJourney.com.

Hmmmm Chocolate

The town I grew up in had a Hersey plant on the outskirts. We often took visiting friends and family there for the factory tour. Watching huge vats of chocolate being stirred by mechanical arms are fond memories for me. I never passed on taking the tour because they handed out candy bars (a rare treat for me) as you left. “Score!” I would think when they had plain milk chocolate bars. Why they sometimes defiled perfectly good chocolate by adding nuts, coconut, nougat, or anything else to it was beyond me.

As an adult, I still love chocolate. But it is a guilty pleasure. I’ve trained my taste buds to enjoy dark chocolate since we went plant based and I carefully read ingredient lists to make sure there is no milk fat in it.

Sadly, I have recently learned that milk fat isn’t the only downside hiding in chocolate. That said, there is also an upside to it. While I don’t think chocolate is a food group that we should actively include in our diet, I also don’t think it is something we should feel like we have to completely avoid.

I’ll summarize what I’ve learned and then you can decide where chocolate fits or doesn’t into your eating habits.

Why chocolate is bad for you

Chocolate often has lead and cadmium in it. We know what lead is and the risks of anemia, weakness, kidney damage, brain damage and the damage it can cause to the developing nervous system.

But what is cadmium?

I had never heard of that.

It is a heavy metal found naturally in soil. It can be near the surface of the earth due to volcanic activity, forest fires and erosion. And can be introduced to the soil by artificial fertilizers and/or pesticides and atmospheric pollution.

But, researcher Dr Anja Gramlich says, “We have no concrete proof that the problem is man-made. The cadmium seems to stem almost exclusively from the parent bedrock.”

Which means we can’t blame the existence of cadmium in chocolate on the industrial process. It is simply in the soil where the cocoa is grown. Short of ripping up all the plants and moving them to a location tested to not have cadmium in the soil, there’s not much that can be done about that (note – asking small cocoa farmers to do that is unreasonable).

The health risks of cadmium are similar to those caused by lead with the additional risk of it being cancer causing.

The US has yet to set any limits on cadmium in cocoa products. Conversely, the EU started enforcing limits as of January 2019.

The chocolate industry’s defense is that many plant foods have a certain level of cadmium and smoking tobacco can be quite high in it, so it being in chocolate isn’t really a bid deal. That is a pretty weak argument. Chocolate isn’t something we need to live (really, it’s not) and that excuse seems spot on from an industry out to make money rather than look out for our health.

There are also the reports of poverty, child labor and even slavery in the countries that produce cocoa. Not to mention the old growth forest deforestation related to the chocolate trade.

Does that mean we need to give up all chocolate, even dark chocolate? Say it’s not so!

Why chocolate is good for you

Did you know that the scientific name for chocolate translates into “food of the gods?” Considering how universally loved it is, I guess we shouldn’t be surprised. Americans consume an average of almost ten pounds of the stuff a year. And because of that widespread consumption, chocolate has been blamed for things that aren’t really its fault.

Chocolate causes acne

MYTH! The dairy in chocolate is more likely to blame for acne than the chocolate itself.

Chocolate is a junk food

Myth again. It’s not the chocolate that’s the problem. It’s the sugar and dairy fat that’s mixed with it. Some commercial chocolates contain more sugar than chocolate!

Chocolate contains antioxidants

Truth. But I have to wonder if there are enough antioxidants in it to offset the free radicals caused by the sugar. Maybe we should err on the side of caution and call this one a wash.

But wait, the antioxidants in chocolate are polyphenols that inhibit oxidation of LDL cholesterol and keep blood platelets clumping together. Both of which are risk factors for atherosclerosis (diseased arteries). Okay, slight edge to the benefits of chocolate.

Chocolate improves mood

Yep, truth again. There is a substance in chocolate that binds to the cannabinoid receptors in the brain (yes, the same receptors as THC – just not as strongly). And chocolate boosts serotonin (the happiness chemical). Which may be why women crave it when they have PMS and during menstruation.

What does all that mean?

How you use that information is up to you. Russ doesn’t have a sweet tooth and has a take-it-or-leave-it relationship with chocolate. For me, I don’t usually have chocolate in the house. If I really want some, I buy a small amount of dark chocolate with no dairy in it. Some PB experts recommend 80% or higher. I’m at about 65% and I’m working my way up.

Given the option I look for fair-trade, organic and sustainably grown. That doesn’t guarantee those things are true, but it’s a step in the right direction.

And finally – this bit is important – when I choose to enjoy chocolate, I simply enjoy it. No guilt allowed!

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Dr Robyn is a former competitive volleyball player turned psychologist with continuing education in nutrition. Russ is a former competitive bodybuilder and trainer on the Mr. Olympia Tour. They are the co-founders of Whole Food Muscle and the authors of How to Feed a Human The Whole Food Muscle Way. To work with them one on one to improve your health and fitness or to have them speak at your event or organization email them at Health@RnRJourney.com.

Why Weight Gain Is SO Easy And Weight Loss Is SO Hard

It goes without saying that humans are designed to be energy efficient and to store anything extra in case we need it later. And that could be the entirety of this article. But there are some underlying mechanisms to weight, what is fat and what is water, and how they interact that you might find interesting and psychologically helpful during your health journey.

As you read this please keep in mind that weight isn’t a static number. The numbers I’m sharing are based on my weighing myself twice a day and tracking my weight VERY closely simply for the sake of being able to share real data with you. Please DO NOT obsess about the number on the scale. The information I am sharing is to give you a better understanding of what is going on in your body and help you get through the holiday season without making yourself nuts or throwing your hands up in frustration. No one benefits from giving up on their health for the six weeks that is “the holidays.”

If you watch our daily Facebook lives you know that in the middle of November we attended two vegan potlucks in a row. Between that Friday morning and that Saturday night I (Dr Robyn) gained five pounds (!). A week later one of them was still around. Then Thanksgiving and all its yummy leftovers arrived. As of this writing I am up 2ish pounds from where I was in early November.

I am not concerned about it. Two pounds is nothing and I know that the number will drop back to normal easily enough when the extra yummies (mostly desserts for me) of the holidays are behind us.

But, how does weight pop on so quickly, in less than 48 hours in my case, and then take a week or more of consistent healthy eating to go away?

Bulk – The first thing that shows up on the scale is food weight. The average person eats about two pounds of food and water a day. If you weigh yourself when you first get up in the morning and then again right before you go to bed, you will see that.

I typically weigh two and half to three pounds more at night than I do in the morning (Russ varies as much as five pounds). But the next morning, I’m back where I started.

If you eat more volume, like I did when trying all the things at the potluck, you are going to eat more weight. So, a higher number on the scale should be expected. But then it doesn’t go away overnight like it usually does.

Extra energy – More food means more energy (I’m not a huge fan of the word calories because they aren’t really a thing. But for the sake of ease of understanding, energy = calories). Your body gets SUPER excited that there is an excess and hoards it away to make sure you survive the next famine (which isn’t coming but it doesn’t know that).

Conveniently your body has empty fat cells just waiting to be used for storage. It takes a lot of energy to turn carbohydrates into fat. Your body would rather use them for energy. But any fat you ate is easy to tuck into those empty fat cells.

Water as a place holder – Now you have the extra energy you ate stored on your hips. But you go back to your regular Whole Food Muscle way of eating and your body starts using that fat as energy to get you back to your ideal weight.

Unfortunately, you don’t see this fat burning show up on the scale right away. Your body thinks, “Well, there was some extra energy. Let me just hold this fat cell open so I can refill it double-quick if we have another windfall come along.” As it burns the fat out of a cell, it replaces it with water – keeping your weight stable at the higher number.

Now, if you continue to not take in extra energy you body will eventually give up on holding the space and, whoosh! you’ll suddenly lose several pounds at once (often three or four). The Whoosh Effect is a medically recognized weight loss thing. It is explained in some detail in our book, How to Feed a Human.

But, it’s the holidays so maybe you eat the Whole Food Muscle way for five or six days and then you have an event to attend. Some yummy vegan junk food or maybe an extra glass of wine and your body says, “Ooo, good thing I held those fat cells open!” The water in the fat cell is once again replaced with fat and you continue to be stable at that higher number on the scale.

As annoying as that is, and trust me I know it’s annoying, it’s really not a big deal. If your weight is stable at two or three pounds above your ideal just for the holiday season, don’t stress about it. You are filling and burning the same bunch of fat cells and when the holiday parties are over, you’ll go back to your ideal weight easily enough.

However – and this is important – if your weight is creeping upwards each week, you know you are attending too many parties, drinking too much wine or bringing home too many leftovers. Your body can deal with a spurt of extra energy once a week or so. Anymore than that and you’re going to be opening extra fat cells on a regular basis and not burning the fat in them in between the parties.

In short, don’t deny yourself a goodie here and there throughout the holidays. Just make sure you’re eating the Whole Food Muscle way most of the time and continuing to do your exercise. Don’t let the holidays turn into an excuse to sit on the coach watching Christmas movies and eating Bon Bons (are those still a thing) for days at a time. As Dr T. Colin Campbell says, “It’s not the now and then that kills you, it’s the every day.”

Get a jump on the learning curve for your New Year’s health plans! Join the Whole Food Muscle Club today so you can hit the ground running as soon as the calendar rolls into 2020.

Dr Robyn is a former competitive volleyball player turned psychologist with continuing education in nutrition. Russ is a former competitive bodybuilder and trainer on the Mr. Olympia Tour. They are the co-founders of Whole Food Muscle and the authors of How to Feed a Human The Whole Food Muscle Way. To work with them one on one to improve your health and fitness or to have them speak at your event or organization email them at Health@RnRJourney.com.

Eggs – The ANTI-Health Food

I have written about eggs before and we have done a few lives talking about the various reasons why we choose not to eat them and encourage our clients not to as well. Because “common knowledge” says eggs are healthy for you and a great choice for breakfast, we thought it might be helpful for you to have a few of the top reasons eggs are not a great choice all in one place.

Eggs are the most concentrated source of cholesterol in the American diet

If you have high cholesterol or cholesterol controlled by medication the “safe” limit is 200mg of cholesterol a day. One chicken egg has about 200mg of cholesterol.

Keep in mind that your body makes all the cholesterol you need. Ingesting more means your body has to do the work of removing it.

Eggs increase the growth of gut bacteria that create TMA which is oxidized by the liver into TMAO. TMAO is linked to higher heart disease and cancer

Eggs have been linked to higher rates of colon, breast and prostate cancer, as well as diabetes

Eggs are full of chicken hormones (not surprising when you consider that an egg is the result of a chicken menstruating) even if they are organic and haven’t been given any extra steroid hormones to make them produce more/larger eggs.

The hormone balance in humans is very delicate. Ingesting animal hormones can create disruptions

Eggs are not allowed to be advertised as healthy, nutritious, nutritional, safe, good for you or well-balanced due to the amount of saturated fat and cholesterol in them. They are not a “rich source of protein by definition (20% of daily value). However, there is no legal definition for “nutrient dense” so they can use that.

If you decide to eat eggs, which we STRONGLY recommend against, they should be cooked COMPLETELY hard to eliminate the risk of salmonella and bird flu.

If you have diabetes, eating eggs doubles your risk of all cause mortality (dying of any cause)

Egg whites are acidic/acid forming (cancer grows in an acidic state). This can cause fatigue, increased cortisol, increased kidney stones and increased inflammation, including eczema.

Your body uses calcium from your muscles and bones to keep your PH in balance when you ingest acid forming foods

Those health issues don’t apply only to the eggs many people eat for breakfast. Keep an eye out for eggs hidden in cookies, cakes, bread, fried foods, mayonnaise, frothy drinks (margaritas and cappuccinos), pasta, marshmallows, Caesar salad dressings and egg substitutes (egg substitutes by legal definition are allowed to contain egg whites but not yolks).

Feeling alone on your healthy eating journey? Join our community of health-forward individuals! We love sharing recipes, ideas, support and knowledge. Just click on the Whole Food Muscle banner.

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Dr Robyn is a former competitive volleyball player turned psychologist with continuing education in nutrition. Russ is a former competitive bodybuilder and trainer on the Mr. Olympia Tour. They are the co-founders of Whole Food Muscle and the authors of How to Feed a Human The Whole Food Muscle Way. To work with them one on one to improve your health and fitness or to have them speak at your event or organization email them at Health@RnRJourney.com.

Can You Spot Fake Food?

What is fake food

Anything created, designed and marketed to make a company money. They are responsible to their shareholders. Your health is your problem.

Packaged “food”
Processed “food”
Fast “food”
Most restaurant “food”

Packaged to make your caveman brain think it’s healthy.

You can look at berries and unconsciously tell which one has the most nutrition. The darker and richer the color is, the riper it is and the more nutrition it has.
Walk down any cereal or candy aisle and consciously look at the colors of the packaging. It is designed and then tested to make sure it triggers your unconscious ability to believe, without realizing it, that it is good for you.

Full of chemical flavors that your caveman brain associates with nutrition and a good energy source

Watermelon candy tastes more “watermelon-y” than an actual watermelon. Your caveman brain thinks that means the candy (fake flavor) is better for you than the actual fruit
Chemical flavors create flavor combinations not found in nature that hit more than one eat-more-of-that sensor in your brain.
- Sugar, fat and salt are separate flavors in nature and found in limited quantities. In fake food they are mixed together by scientists and tested to make sure they hit the Bliss Point and are available in unlimited quantities.

Hits your perfect Bliss Point.

The Bliss Point is a real thing in the food industry. It is the exact amount of sweet and flavor that will override your brain’s ability to say, “I’ve had enough.”
Hitting the Bliss Point turns on your “cram” instinct - “I need to eat as much of this calorie dense food as possible right now while it is available so I can survive the next famine.”

Turns on your cram instinct

You eat more quantity in one sitting than your body needs, then you make a mental note of where you found a “great” source of energy so you can come back for more.
- Good for survival if you were remembering where you found a tree full of ripe fruit.
- Bad for survival when you are remembering where to get fake food.
The food industry is exploiting our natural survival instincts for profit at the expense of our health
Good for their bottom line. Bad for our waistline.

Has all the nutrients removed

Nutrients spoil and are bad for shelf life

Is sometimes “fortified” or “enriched” with vitamins and minerals that the government has determined need to be added back.

The outbreak of pellagra in the early 1900s was caused by stripping wheat down to create white bread. It tasted great and was super easy to eat. But it created malnutrition because there was very little nutritional value left.
The problem was “solved” by fortifying/enriching bread. (They should have just left it alone and eaten whole wheat bread)
Food companies now use the fact that they fortify or enrich food for marketing. “Look at all the great vitamins and minerals we put in for your health!”
What they fail to tell you is they took all the good stuff out first.

There is little to no fiber

Fiber requires chewing. Chewing means your body has more time to realize you’ve had enough. And fiber makes your stomach feel full. Both of those things are bad for company profits.
Consider how quickly you can inhale a fast food burger. You barely have to chew it at all. That means you will eat another and maybe another before you “feel” full. Good for profits!
Lack of fiber means there is no way for toxins to hitch a ride out of your body with the trash so they get reabsorbed into your system. Your liver has to refilter them, put them back into the colon and cross its fingers that this time there is enough fiber for the toxins to leave the body.
Lack of fiber is linked to colon cancer because waste that is full of toxins and should be eliminated at least once a day, sits in the colon.

Fake food – GREAT for company profits. Deadly to humans who eat it.

Dr Robyn is a former competitive volleyball player turned psychologist with continuing education in nutrition. Russ is a former competitive bodybuilder and trainer on the Mr. Olympia Tour. They are the co-founders of Whole Food Muscle and the authors of How to Feed a Human The Whole Food Muscle Way. To work with them one on one to improve your health and fitness or to have them speak at your event or organization email them at Health@RnRJourney.com.

Happy Guts Don’t Bloat

Your gut microbiome is unique to you. Even identical twins have completely different gut microbiomes. While the initial bacteria you get is determined at birth, there are several things you can do that either help or hurt the health and diversity of your gut garden. Here are a few things you need to know if you want to create a happy, healthy gut that doesn’t bloat.

Things that hurt:

Antibiotics – An antibiotic does exactly what its name suggests, it kills bacteria. Taking a five-day course of antibiotics will kill up to one third of your good gut bacteria. Taking probiotic pills isn’t going to bring it back. It has to fed and grow back.

Antibiotics are extremely over prescribed in the western world. Only take an antibiotic if you have a bacterial infection that requires it. If you have a viral infection, skip the just-in-case antibiotic.

Additionally, be aware that 80% of antibiotic use is given to food animals. Conventionally produced meat and dairy products are loaded with them. If you choose to eat them, organic is the better choice. See below for why you shouldn’t choose to eat them at all.

Animal protein – The bacteria needed to digest the protein in red meat, white meat, fish, diary and eggs loves bile. Bile loving bacteria is associated with inflammation and diarrheal disease and is stronger than the bacteria needed to digest plant-based foods. If you are ingesting animal protein at every meal, you are squeezing out healthy gut flora in favor of bile loving flora that is making you feel miserable.

Lack of fiber – Animal protein has zero fiber and processed foods have had most if not all of the fiber removed. Fiber has two roles in gut health. One, it picks up waste and keeps it moving out of the system. Two, the nutrients attached to the fiber feed your good gut bacteria. Most adults get fifteen grams of fiber a day or less. Forty to sixty grams is the goal.

Artificial sweeteners – Artificial sweeteners are not digested and end up in the large intestine which negatively affects the microbiome, raising insulin. Artificially raising insulin wreaks havoc on our body’s delicate balance.

Your body knows how to process sugar. In small quantities, it’s not a problem. Ideally, use whole fruit to sweeten things.

Things that help:

Microbiota accessible carbohydrates (MACs) – That is a really complicated way of saying foods that are high in fiber and low in fat. Fiber is not digested in the stomach and makes its way into the large intestine where your gut microbiome can feast on the nutrients attached to it. Taking a fiber supplement is not the same. It doesn’t have the nutrients. Foods like quinoa, brown rice, beans (beans are amazing! Eat them every day!) and greens are good examples of MACs. But any unprocessed, plant-based foods are going to do amazing things for your gut garden.

If you are eating mostly whole plant foods you are going to hit forty to sixty grams of fiber a day without even trying. Don’t worry about counting.

Within 30 hours of replacing animal protein with whole plant-foods the health of your gut microbiome will improve dramatically. To keep that improvement going, don’t feed the unhealthy flora by eating animal protein.

Raw sauerkraut – Raw sauerkraut is both a probiotic and a prebiotic (food that probiotics eat). But you have to make sure it’s raw. Many commercially available sauerkrauts are pasteurized to kill bacteria, which of course kills the good bacteria too. If you make it yourself, you’ll know that all the good stuff is still in there.

Things that are useless

Probiotics – You can’t buy a healthy gut microbiome from the drug store. Most probiotics in a supplement are dead within twenty minutes of taking them. The acid in your stomach is designed to kill bacteria you accidently ingest so you don’t get sick. Any probiotic that happens to survive the acid bath in the stomach will find its way into the toilet in about thirty-six hours.

Yogurt – Yogurt is just a less sweet form of ice cream and the animal protein in it feeds unhealthy gut bacteria. Most of the story about yogurt being good for your gut is marketing.

It is amazing how much better life is when you have a happy gut. I know. I speak from experience. I have pictures from my pre-plant-based days where I am so bloated I looked pregnant. I used to complain to my doctor that my GI tract was broken. Little did I know, the solution was waiting at the end of my fork.

Ready to start feeling better? Join the Whole Food Muscle Club to get the support to make it happen. We have the answers. You have to take the first step.

Dr Robyn is a former competitive volleyball player turned psychologist with continuing education in nutrition. Russ is a former competitive bodybuilder and trainer on the Mr. Olympia Tour. They are the co-founders of Whole Food Muscle and the authors of How to Feed a Human The Whole Food Muscle Way. To work with them one on one to improve your health and fitness or to have them speak at your event or organization email them at Health@RnRJourney.com.

Protein And Muscle Building

If you have been anywhere near a gym or anyone who lifts weights you have likely heard that you NEED protein to build muscle. It’s an interesting fallacy that muscle can be built in the kitchen or simply by drinking protein shakes. Russ and I were believers of that story before we learned better. Snacks of cheese were great because they had protein (never mind that they are more fat and cholesterol than protein). For dinner we always made sure we ate the protein (i.e. animal flesh) first. Then the starch and veggies.

When we were young (less than 35), that worked. At least we thought it was working. I successfully played in three-day volleyball tournaments in 90+ degree heat on sand too hot to stand on. And Russ had the bulging muscles you would expect of a competitive body builder (check out the picture on our bio page if you need evidence).

What we didn’t realize is youth will allow you to get away with a world of sins. You can feed a human body just about anything for 30ish years and as long as it gets enough calories it will function. Feed it a little better and it will function better. Throw in some exercise and people will laud you for being in great shape.

Now both of us believe we could have been even better athletes if we had realized the truth about nutrition and particularly animal protein. That became painfully obvious when we no longer had youth to protect us from our less than ideal dietary choices. Too much animal protein was actually HURTING our ability to build and maintain muscle mass.

Let me say that again – Too much animal protein is counterproductive to building muscle.

There are two factors that contribute to this problem. One – your body’s need for fuel. Two – your body’s need to recover between workouts. Too much protein causes a problem in both cases.

Your body’s need for fuel
Every cell in the human body runs on glucose. Your brain can only run on glucose. No glucose = death. Glucose comes from carbohydrates. So, carbohydrates = fuel. If you run out of carbs to burn, your body goes to your backup battery, glycogen, stored in your liver and in your muscles. When it runs out of glycogen, it switches to burning fat AND converting amino acids (protein) into a glucose-like substance to keep you alive until you find more carbohydrates (yes this is how the keto diet causes weight loss – this is supposed to be a short-term solution to avoid death, not a way of life. Using it for weight loss causes a whole host of health problems. But that is a different article).

In the process of stopping everything to create fuel to keep you alive, your body starts to steal amino acids like alanine to convert into fuel from your muscles. So now not only are you not building muscle, you are actively breaking it down.

Your body’s need to recover
In competitive athlete circles recovery time is a top priority. The sooner your body is ready to go again, the more time you can spend practicing and getting better. Down time is lost time (As a side note, as a trained sport psychologist I disagree with this at some level because mental practice is important and can be done while the body is recovering. But again – that is a different post).

The best recovery food is carbohydrates. That is important to let sink in because most people believe they need to pound a protein shake the moment they stop working out. That’s not the case. Instead, whole-food carbs are going to be your best bet. Your body’s first goal is to recharge your backup battery (glycogen). You can only do that with carbohydrates. Taking in high levels of protein right after a workout pushes the necessary carbs and other essential nutrients off of your plate. And if you eat whole-food carbs you are going to get protein because ALL whole-foods contain protein. You don’t have to actively seek it out.

This idea that we have to purposefully find and ingest lots of protein is the result of a misunderstanding of the science (see the chapter in our book about the Protein Cult) and some really good marketing and advertising campaigns.

Studies have shown that if you do resistance training and you get enough nutritional calories, you WILL build muscle. There is no two ways about it. If humans had needed some special balance of protein, carbs and fat to build muscle, we never would have made it off the Serengeti. It’s not that complicated. Eat real food, mostly plants, do appropriate resistance training and you’ll be good to go.

Have Russ create a custom-built workout plan to help you achieve your fitness goals and/or have Dr Robyn fine tune in your nutrition plan. Send us an email with your goals and let’s have a conversation about making them a reality.

Dr Robyn is a former competitive volleyball player turned psychologist with continuing education in nutrition. Russ is a former competitive bodybuilder and trainer on the Mr. Olympia Tour. They are the co-founders of Whole Food Muscle and the authors of How to Feed a Human The Whole Food Muscle Way. To work with them one on one to improve your health and fitness or to have them speak at your event or organization email them at Health@RnRJourney.com.

Daily Green Smoothie Danger

Green smoothies are a common way for people to sneak in their greens every day. As you know, we recommend you always chew your food, because chewing is the first step in good digestion. But there is another risk to green smoothies that most people don’t realize – the high level of oxalates found in spinach, beet greens and swiss chard.

Oxalates are natural substances occurring in many foods. Usually they bind to calcium and leave the body with the trash in the large intestine. However, if it doesn’t bind to calcium it has to be removed from the blood by the kidneys and sent out with urine. That is where it can cause a problem. Too many oxalates and too little liquid can lead to kidney stones.

One in ten people in the US will experience kidney stones in their lifetime (Russ and I both have). The most common type is made up of oxalates (Russ’ was. Mine were protein). But people who get stones don’t eat anymore oxalates than those who don’t. Instead, it’s a matter of how much of it you absorb.

Since the human body creates oxalates as a waste product, we do have the ability to eliminate it from our system. But it requires the alkalizing affect of fruits and vegetables. So even though some greens are high in oxalates, if you remove fruits and vegetables from your diet your risk of getting kidney stones goes up.

Additionally, the acid created by eating animal products also increases the risk of kidney stones. The amount of animal protein in a single can of tuna daily increased your risk of kidney stones by 250%. And having gastric bypass surgery increases oxalate absorption and thus, kidney stone risk.

Spinach has 656mg of oxalate per cup (as compared to kale with 2mg per cup) and accounts for more than 40% of oxalate intake in the US. Oxalates are absorbed more rapidly when food is blended rather than chewed. So, the two cups of spinach you are putting in your green smoothie on a daily basis may be putting you at risk for kidney stones.

Blanching spinach will reduce oxalates by about a third and boiling by about half. But it would be wise to not eat large doses of high oxalate foods on a daily basis. Instead, switch out lower oxalate options at least a few days a week.

How much is too much?

More than four cups a day of rhubarb (I have no idea how anyone eats rhubarb at all. I personally can’t stand it)
More than one cup a day of almonds and/or cashews
More than 1 ¼ cup star fruit juice or 4-6 whole star fruits a day
Instant tea (based I what I read, any amount every day could be a problem)
More than a gallon of tea a day
More than a teaspoon of turmeric a day (we do ½ a tsp in our oatmeal)
More than two cups of spinach a day (apparently seven cups of spinach a day will kill you. Although it didn’t say in what timeframe)

None of that is to say you shouldn’t eat those foods. That is not the case. They are all loaded with great nutrients and are part of a healthy, nutrient dense diet. But the healthiest diets include variety. If you want to have a green smoothie every day (again, we recommend chewing your food not drinking it), vary what makes it green. And of course, always drink plenty of water.

For nutrition tips, recipes, workouts, cooking advice, ways to overcome emotional eating, fitness support and motivation on your health journey, join the Whole Food Muscle Club.

Dr Robyn is a former competitive volleyball player turned psychologist with continuing education in nutrition. Russ is a former competitive bodybuilder and trainer on the Mr. Olympia Tour. They are the co-founders of Whole Food Muscle and the authors of How to Feed a Human The Whole Food Muscle Way. To work with them one on one to improve your health and fitness or to have them speak at your event or organization email them at Health@RnRJourney.com.